Head of School Wendy L. Hill was honored on Monday, April 11 in a ceremony that officially named Lafayette College’s neuroscience lab in recognition of her driving influence in the establishment and growth of the college’s Neuroscience Program.
President Alison R. Byerly welcomed those gathered for the dedication in Oechsle Hall, home to the college’s Psychology Department and Neuroscience Program.
“I am certainly most humbled to have a laboratory in this building dedicated in my name,” Hill said in acknowledging the dedication of the space, which once housed a gymnasium before being transformed into new offices, classrooms and laboratories for the Psychology Department and Neuroscience Program nearly 15 years ago.
“To this renovated space, I said in 2002 at its dedication: Students once came to exercise their bodies, now they come to exercise their minds,” she added.
College officials unveiled a plaque that read: “This laboratory honors the 25-year Lafayette career of Wendy L. Hill, founding chair of the neuroscience program, award-winning teacher and scholar, visionary academic leader, and devoted colleague and friend. Gift of Arthur J. ’55 and Barbara S. Rothkopf. May 2014.”
Hill served as Provost and Dean of Faculty at Lafayette for seven years before joining Agnes Irwin as Head of School in July 2014. She was also the inaugural William C. ’67 and Pamela Rappolt Professor of Neuroscience.
Hill holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, from Douglass College, Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in animal behavior from the University of Washington. At Lafayette, she served as Metzgar Assistant Professor, an endowed position, from 1991 to 1995, when she was promoted to associate professor. She became full professor in 2000 and was appointed to the Rappolt Professorship in 2002.
Hill played a leading role in the development of the College’s interdisciplinary bachelor of science degree program in neuroscience and was its founding chair. She has developed several introductory and advanced courses and has involved more than 100 students in her research program, many of whom have coauthored papers with Hill published in scientific journals or collaborated with her on conference presentations or published abstracts.
Her research with students on the hormonal basis of attachment in humans has been featured in national and international print and electronic media, including ABC World News, CNN, MSNBC, Scientific American Mind, U.S. News & World Report, Discover, Chicago Tribune, The Independent (United Kingdom), Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), Money Times (India), and many more outlets via the Associated Press, BBC, and Reuters.
Photo captions:
- Top: Dr. Wendy L. Hill
- Middle: Hill speaks at the Wendy L. Hill Neuroscience Laboratory, Oechsle Hall, Lafayette College
- Bottom: From left to right, Lisa Gabel, associate professor of psychology; Arthur J. Rothkopf, President Emeritus of Lafayette College; Wendy Hill; Barbara S. Rothkopf, former first lady of Lafayette; Alison R. Byerly, president of Lafayette College